I see that Neal Boortz is retiring. Guess spreading hate and ignorance takes it out of you.
He’s being replaced by Herman Cain. Aw shucky ducky. Hope his staff can tell him where Uzbeki-beki-beki-bekistan is.
(I would never waste time or brain cells listening to either of them.)
WF
This article showcases a trend that is all too real, yet (sadly) nothing new. These issues date from almost the time the first white settlers came across the Atlantic.
The thing is, in the absence of real study and understanding of non-majority cultures, the majority culture becomes even more hardened in their negative opinion of the minority culture, thus perpetuating the system.
Of course, what is going to happen when – and it’s not if, but when – whites are no longer the majority?
I’m not even addressing the overall anti-intellectualism that permeates American life (and has overtaken one political party); I just believe – I know – that this refusal to even acknowledge other viewpoints and cultures leads to fear, xenophobia, and destruction. (Of course, the aforementioned political party loves those things.)
WF
What I feared would happen happened. The “tricornered hat and empty head” brigade got another scalp. Also, a majority of people who voted yesterday in North Carolina put themselves on the wrong side of history. Again.
People, stop enabling these anti-government (check that: anti-government for anything other than rich white straight Christian males) idiots! They hide behind fear – fear of non-whites, fear of an angry God, fear of their own desires. They listen to the nice man on the TeeVee, the megachurch pastor with the fancy cars who peddles theological snake oil, the radio talk show host who knows how to exploit the stupid. They don’t think. They simply react, and they cannot stand that the country wasn’t like it was in the ’50s* (in the case of down here, that’s the 1850s).
*Actually, I’d take the tax rates of the 1950s in a heartbeat.
WF
…and all the “what global warming hurr durr” types come out.
WF
Here in the Atlanta metro area, we have I-285 (the “Perimeter”) and I-20. I-285 is a belt interstate which circles the city. I-20 runs east-west and splits the city pretty much right down the middle. Most of the lower- and working-class types – as well as the bulk of the minority population – live south of I-20 and/or ITP (“Inside the Perimeter”). Most of the upper-middle and upper-class types – as well as the bulk of the white population – live north of I-20 and/or OTP (“Outside the Perimeter”).
This can’t surprise either of my readers, but Jawa Girl and I live south of I-20 and ITP. This was not accidental. Not only is my job south of here and it’s easier to deal with the traffic, but anyone who knows me knows how not-gladly I suffer fools and rich white self-entitled people (and I say that as someone who *is* white and wouldn’t mind being rich). I like living in a diverse neighborhood. I like the fact that not everyone looks like me. I recognize that makes me a minority (ha!) amongst my fellow members of the Pale ‘n’ Portly, especially down here, but that’s alright with me. I’ve never been one to go with the flow, except for that one incident in 8th/9th grade, and in my defense I looked really good in the pastel Don Johnson jacket.
So when a local hospital put an ad on the TeeVee that said “Taking Healthcare outside the Perimeter – where people actually live!”, it got my dander up. ITP and south of I-20 get enough negativity as it is. Yes, crime is, statistically speaking, higher here. Not gonna deny that. But – and understand this is not to excuse bad behavior, but rather to understand – this area has consistently been ignored/blamed/put upon by the Powers That Be down here. It the city of Atlanta, many north-south streets actually change names at Ponce de Leon (the previous line of demarcation, before I-20 was built) so that people up north (mostly white) wouldn’t have to live on the same streets as people down south (mostly non-white).
I have a message for Dekalb Medical Center – Hillandale: People – real people – actually do live inside the Perimeter. Don’t absorb the racism and classism that have too long plagued this area.
WF
Since I had a little extra money and a free coupon, I went to a local restaurant for breakfast this morning. There weren’t too many people in the dining area.
About 10 minutes into breakfast, the lone African-American in the dining room left. Not more than two minutes later, two middle-aged white guys started a conversation that I could mostly hear from 10 feet away. From the jargon and whatnot, I gathered they were in sales. One was dominating the conversation and spouting the usual claptrap about how businesses are overtaxed and overregulated. He even pointed out Wall Street as an example.
To quote Homer Simpson, “urge to kill…rising.” But, hey, he’s just some white sales douchebag. No shortage of those on this planet, and this guy is just blather. But then, after he’s secure that the lone black customer is no longer in the restaurant, comes this:
“I hate to say this, but I didn’t used to be racist – Obama made me one.”
I finished up and left. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as this slackjaw. Had I the guts, I would have said “No, you hate to say it when you think someone might disagree with you. You’ve always been a racist – you just didn’t have the guts to admit it until you could blame it on a black guy.”
As I was leaving, I overheard him say that the President was proof that blacks and whites shouldn’t marry.
It’s a good thing my mother raised me better than that, because it took every ounce of self-control to keep from going back and reading him the Riot Act.
This quote seems appropriate: “I’m not black, but there are times I wish I wasn’t white.” – Frank Zappa.
This also did little to disabuse me of the notion that middle-aged white guys are the most annoying and self-pitying so-and-sos on the planet (and I say that as someone who has every intention of being a middle-aged white guy soon).
WF
Wes Flinn Music 